As the online world can only use social processes that can be measured, it is easy to think that the only outcome of all interactions is measurable acceptance. To stay out of this social media mindset. We LOOKUP!
To put all our attention on the relationships of connection that can only be felt and never wholly measured. WE don't have a number of connections; we imagine in a flow of connections.
It is widely recognized that achieving a flow state is essential for optimal performance in any activity.
When we lose
our flow
How We take ourselves out of our flow
If we neglect to train our flow, we lose our understanding of the relationships and connections. We are left with the isolating comfort of control. We lose our skills of Wow.
Jon Thorne, our founder, is notable for being among the first to understand that the flow state is an integral part of the human experience. We all exist in a state of flow; instead of trying to enter it, we can stop taking ourselves out of it.
This realization guided Jon to Dr. Iain McGilchrist, who explains that when our brain focuses on a particular object, it reduces our awareness of the interconnections among everything around us. Once we obtain that specific object, our brain should realign itself with the flow of these connections until it becomes aware of when something else is needed. Flow represents our natural state, which we temporarily leave to grasp something new.
Iain emphasizes that modern technology often leads us to spend significant portions of our day concentrating on isolated tasks, such as managing to-do lists and following maps. This pulls us out of flow. When we dedicate excessive time away from the natural flow of relationships and the connections surrounding us, we can easily become overwhelmed by our circumstances. In moments of overwhelm, we frequently seek to regain a sense of control. This pursuit of stability may cause us to fixate on adhering to simple guidelines. Our relationships become about following simple guidelines. We feel isolation even when we are with people. This way of living is not our intended path and can be harmful to our well-being. Although there are various strategies to cope with feelings of overwhelm and isolation, they often fail to tackle the root issue: we have stepped away from our inherent, organic flow. Iain believes that this disconnection is occurring on such a massive scale that if we do not find a way to prevent technology from pulling humanity out of flow, it could ultimately lead to the collapse of society as we know it.
If we neglect to train our flow, we lose our understanding of the relationships and connections. We are left with the isolating comfort of control. We lose our skills of Wow.
Let’s
Flow
Flow state training is cultivating a deeper understanding of the relationships and connections between players to enhance flow. It's like painting a picture - the more colors and shades we understand and use, the richer and more vibrant our artwork becomes. Similarly, the more we understand the interconnectedness of things, the more harmonious our flow becomes. It's all about recognizing patterns. We do something, pause, see what happened, and respond. We keep going until something we could not have known before appears—a Wow moment. The outcome of flow is Wow. This understanding can help us navigate life more smoothly and creatively.
St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK
The governance team
We make sure the flow state trainers follow their peer review process
LOUISE HOSKING
30+ years experience working with business leaders in organisations of all sizes and a range of sectors to achieve positive culture change using my professional skills as a positive driver to add value enabling organisations to achieve their operational aspirations and beyond.
An unconventional entrepreneur, influencer and transformational leader adept at working across all levels. I’m motivated by the potential our profession has to unlock the abilities of people to support one another to, in turn, create a healthy world to live, work, do business and create communities which thrive. By releasing people to be the best they can be we will create psychological safety with teams and supplychains who trust one another. From here, we achieve true sustainability via local, national and global networks. Together we will step up to meet the very many, and very real, challenges we are currently facing around the world today.
I thrive in a business environment. I know what it means to juggle distractions, complexities, conflicting priorities; and manage/plan resources. I’m adept at creating high performing teams to achieve transformative objectives which evolve into smarter working solutions that empower people to be the best they can be. In turn, culture is transformed to create a vibrant organisation with the energy to achieve its goals and go further.
Currently Executive Director of Environmental Health at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health creating visibility via our members for a profession which spans health protection in and out of work. I’m also Director of the OneWISH coalition a social enterprise supporting Women & Inclusion
In Nov 2021 I was elected as the 55th #IOSH President & Chair of IOSH council. I used my skills to transform the elected council, working closely with the board and executive teams to create new foundations in a post pandemic world and culture change. My theme was #People #Sustainability and putting ❤️ into #Health & #Safety.I’m proud of the professional approach now established across council. This means the member voice is being heard more clearly than ever before with much closer board working relationships. What we do is more than process it’s about people and compassion. As only the 7th woman to hold the role I also hope I have inspired others.
I am persistently consistent and consistently persistent practiced in starting from the start and achieving positive transformation in an exciting and engaging manner, at the right cadence, to achieve lasting change starting with just one conversation at a time.
STUART MARSHALL
Stuart is an experienced outdoor instructor with over 30 years of commercial outdoor teaching experience. He is a national instructor for scuba diving and also a cave leader, bushcraft instructor, and river guide with a particular interest in exploring the remote rivers of Scandinavia. He spent many years working at the Leadership Trust when it was the UK's foremost management training centre.
He is also a company director of his own First Aid Training business with clients as diverse as the Forestry Commission, Imperial College, Birmingham University, and the Natural History Museum. He has used neurodivergent thinking to develop a unique one-day blended First Aid at Work course (plus two days of eLearning) that massively frees up staff time (compared to a traditional 3-day classroom-based course).
Stuart also chairs the Advisory panel for the First Aid Industry Body, the UK’s foremost governing body for independent First Aid training companies. He has also held national positions with the Sub-Aqua Association one of two British Scuba Diving Governing Bodies.
Stuart’s qualifications are diverse from an academic PhD in Microbiology to H&S and leadership qualifications plus video production, animation, etc
Stuart has been working with Jon Thorne for many years and being neurodivergent himself understands the aims of the awarding body and the benefits to those who take part.
IAIN BOWLER
Iain qualified as a lawyer in 1988 specialising in M&A, stock exchange and complex commercial and joint venture work. Between 1998 and 2002, Iain was Director of Corporate Finance at a corporate industrial developer headquartered in the UK and USA. He joined one of the world’s largest law firms in 2002 and was global Co-Chair of the Commercial Contracts and Franchise and Distribution Groups for 10 years before joining Freeths as National Head of Commercial in 2019.
Freeths is a UK top 50 law firm with offices in 12 cities in the UK. The firm employs over 1,000 lawyers and support personnel and in the last financial year had fee income in excess of £110 million.
Professional expertise
Iain’s work involves commercial transactions of all descriptions, including outsourcing, offshoring, manufacturing, consultancy, services and service level agreements, procurement of goods and services, supply chain management, logistics, international trade and capital asset procurement, and maintenance. Iain also advises clients in relation to the many different ways of delivering goods and services to market, both within the UK and internationally, including direct sale, agency, distribution, e-commerce, and business format franchising.
Iain also advises in relation to domestic and multi-jurisdictional structured joint ventures, partnerships and strategic alliances, providing advice on appropriate deal structures and delivery mechanisms relating to national and multi-jurisdictional transactions.
Iain is ranked as a “leading individual” for commercial and franchise work in The Legal 500 and Chambers, is listed in the global Who’s Who Legal for franchise work and is an Acritas™ Star Lawyer. Iain is an Affiliate Member of the British Franchise Association and contributing editor of Global Legal Group’s “International Comparative Legal Guide: Franchise”.
Other information
Iain lives in Hertfordshire, is married to Victoria (also a Partner in an international law firm) and has 4 children. He is a keen sportsman with interests in rugby, snowboarding and all forms of motorsport. He is an RFU accredited junior rugby coach and referee.
SkillsofWow.org is the governing body for those who coach the skills of Wow.